Flushing-tank



No Model.) A 2 snets-sheet- 1.v H. H. CRAIGIE. PLUSHING TANK.

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Patented Mar.. 2951-892.

WITNESS S: W v Q UNITED STAT-ns PATENT Orme-E.

l-IUGII H. CRAIGIE, OF STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT.

FLUSHING-TANVK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 471,537, dated March 29, 1892.

Application tiled April 9, 1888. Serial No. 270,033.- (No model.)

.To @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HUGH H. CRAIGIE, of Stamford, Faireld county, Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Flushing-Tanks, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to flushing-tanks for Water-closets, urinals, d70., pertaining in part to automatic tanks giving'a periodical flush and in part to tanks which are flushed by the connected with it and holds it off from its seat until the descent of the ioat acts to Withdraw the catch and release the valve, Whereupon the latter closes and the outiow of the flushing-Water ceases. As the tank is refilled with Water 4from the service-pipe the oat rises to its normal position ready for the next operation. In an automatic tank the rising of the float acts to release the Weighted lever, which in tilting raises the valve and starts the outliow, leaving the valve upheld by the said catch. In a manually-operated tank, however, the valve is lifted by an operatinglever, which is manipulated by pulling a chain or other connection, and remains upheld by the said catch until the latter is Withdrawn by the descent of the float. The tank is then refilled through the usual iioat-valve or ballcock, which is opened by the descent of the iioat and which upon the refilling of the tank is closed by the ascent of the ioat, leaving the tank full and in readiness for the succeeding operation.

Figures l to 5 of the accompanying drawings show my invention as applied to an automatic tank giving periodical ushes, and Figs. 6 to 9 illustrate it as applied to a manually-operated flushing-tank. Fig. lis a ver- 5o tical longitudinal section of the periodical refilling after a flush. Fig. 2 is a similar View showing the tank immediately after the lifting of the outlet-valve. y Fig. 3 is a plan. Fig. 4 is a` fragmentary transverse section cut on the line 4 -1 in Fig. 1. Fig. 5 shows one of the parts in side and rear elevation. Fig. 6 is a vertical longitudinal section ot' the manuallyoperated tank, showing it full and ready to operate. Figs. 7 and 8 are transverse sections thereof cut on the line 7 8 in Fig. 6, Fig. 7 showing the tank during operation with the Water running out and Fig. 8 showing it at the commencement of refilling. Fig. 9 is a plan-ot the catch-lever for upholding the valve. f

I will rst describe the automatic or periodical tank shown in Figs. l to 5. Let A designate the cistern or water-reservoir,B the outlet-pipe valve, C the outlet-valve, and F the ioat. The valve C is shownA as provided with a tubular valve-stem c, which constitutes Valso an overflow-pipe, being open at its upper end slightly above the highest normal waterlevel in the tank. Above this tube c is a guiding stem or rod CZ, which passes up through an opening in a smallguide-plate e, which is fastened to a plate or shelt` a, which forms a cover for the cistern A and extends over the rear portion thereof. At the top of the stem d is a head f, which, when lifted, is caught by a projecting` hook g on a catch-lever G, which is pivoted on a screw g to a standard h, projecting up from the plate a. The top of the stem CZ above the head f is formed with an eye, to which is jointed an eye rod or linkt',which passes loosely through a hole in a lever .I and has screwedon its upper end a nutj. The lever J is fulcrumed at j on a standard k, projecting up from the plate o., and on the opposite side of its fulcrum from the link i it carries a heavy counter-weight J. This weight imparts tothe opposite arm of the lever a tendency to move upward, which is normally resisted by the end of the lever being caught, as shown in Fig. l, by an overhanging stop Z on the back of a detent-lever L. (Shown detached in Fig. 5.) This lever is pivoted at Z to a standard fm, projecting upwardly from the plate d.

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The float F is ballasted by a weight F and is mounted on the endet a lever K, which is fulcrumed at 'Zcto a standard n, projecting downwardly from the plate a. The lever K is formed with across-bar p, which comes beneath the lower arm or tail of the detent-lever L. f

In the operation of the tank when the lioat F rises this cross-bar bears upwardly against the tail of the leverLand tilts the latter'from the position shown in Fig. l to that shown in Fig. 2, thereby moving its lng Z out of engagement with the free end of the weighted lever J, and thereby permitting the latter to be thrown up by its vcounter-"weight J from its position shown in Fig. l to that shown in Fig. 2. In so doing the leverJencountersthe nut j of the link i and carries the latter up with it,

' 'therebyjerking upthe valve-stem and lifting the valve G, whereupon, eras soon as the valve is fully lifted, the hook g on the catch-lever G moves by its own weight underneath the head f into position to uphold the valve-stem. As soon as the valve is lifted the water commences to run out and the float F to descend. l

Shortly after commencing its descent the lever K -encounters a nut q on the end ofa rod Q, whichpassesthrough the cross-harp and.

extends up through a slot in the'plate a and is jointed Vat its upper end to the lever J. Af-

ter the lever K 'encounters this 'nut q the continued downward movement of the float pulls the rod q and through the latter draws downwardlyon the lever J, and by the preponderating weightof the float, in connection with the advantage of vleverage which it possesses, it graduallytilts the lever J backt'rom the position shown in Fig. 2 to that lshown in Fig. l, at the same time releasing the detentlever L, so that when the lever J reaches its farthest position its end which has been rubbing against the side -of. the lug Z passes beneath the latter and the lever L, falling toits normal position against the stopron the front of the plate a, brings the lug Z over the free end of the lever J, thereby catching and holding the latter. When this downward movement of the leverJcommences,t he valve C is left upheld by the catch-lever G, which continues'to hold it until the iioat reaches its lowestposition. Toward the end of the downward movement of the float a lug s, projecting from the backl of the lever J, strikes the tail t of the catch-lever G and tilts the latter, thereby gradually sliding the hook g out from under the head f, so that finally this hook clears the head j' and allows the valve to drop back to its seat, whereupon the outflow ceases. The tank, which is thus nearly emptied, is then relled in the manner usual'with periodical tanksthat is to say,by the admission of a constant and reduced 'stream of waterthrough a small cock or faucetH, Fig. l. By permitting a more' or less rapid stream to enter through this cock the iushes may be 'made to succeed one another with greater or less frequency. During the refilling of the tank the ioat F ascends, and on reaching the limit of its upward movement it causes the detent-lever L to again release the lever J, thereby again opening the valve and repeating the cycle of operations already described. The automatic operation of the tank will thus continue as long as it is continuously snpplied with water.

' My improved construction of periodical tank may be modified somewhat without departing from what is essentially my invention. All that is necessary -is that there should be a counter-weight or spring to lift the valve, a catchv to hold it when lifted, a float so connected to the counter-weight. and catch that in its descending movement it shall restore the counter-weight and withdraw the catch, and 'some kind of detent which will restrain` the counter-weight from acting on the valve until the float/atr the termination of its ascending movement withdraws this detent, and

thereby freesthe counterweight and permits it to lift the valve.

The construction of the manually-operated tank shown in Figs, 6 to 9, which I will now describe, embodies part of myip'resent invention. The ciste-rn A, outlet B, valve C, and ioat Fare of the same construction as in the periodical tank already described. `The float F is connectedby' its lever K to a float-valve or ball-cock N ot' any ordinary construction, through which when the lloat is depressed water is admitted into the tank by which when the float is lifted to its highest position the inflow of water is arrested'. The valvestemd passes up freely through a guidinghole'in the top plate a of the cistern and is formed with a head jiadapted to be engaged by the hook g of lever G,`(`shown best in Figs. 7 and 8,) which is similar to the one already described. This lever is fulcrumed at g to av standard h. It differs'from the construction first described in that it is connected to the float-lever K by a directk connection instead' of through the'lever J, asin the construction first described. This connection is made, preferably,`by means of a rod q, which passes freely through'an eyet of the lever G. This rod q is inverted relatively to the rod gin the constructionlirst described, being jointed to the Heat-lever at its lower end and having its nut q" screwed on its upper end. When the iioat is descending, as' in Fig. 7, the rod q moves freely through the eye Z until the nut q" encounters the tail t of the catch-lever g,4 as in Fig. 8, whereupon this lever is tilted by the weight of the float and its hook `qis` moved out from under the h'eadf, thereby dropping the valve, as shown in Fig. 8. Thusthe descent' ot' the float acts upon its reaching a certain level to withdraw the catch G and close the Valve, asin the previous construction, the only difference being that the lioat aetson the lever G through the rod q only instead of through the rod q and lever J, with its lug s, as before.

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The valve is opened to give a tlush'- by thev operating-lever P, fulcrumed on a standard k, projecting upwardly from the plate a, which lever is counterweighted, as usual, on the arm which engages the valve and is connected at its opposite arln to a chain c or a cord, wire, or other connection, which extends downward and is connected to a pull or to the seat or door of the closet or otherwise, so as to be 0perated manually to tilt the lever P and lift the valve. The upper end of the valve-stem is connected by a link 7l with the lever P, its link passing freely through a hole or eye 'w in the end of the lever and having a nutj screwed on it. NVhen the lever is pulled, this eye w encounters the nutj and pulls upwardly on the link t' and the valve-stem, thus lifting the valve until its head f comes above the hook g, whereupon the latter moves by its own weight under the head and holds the latter after the lever P is released and drops back by its counter-weight to its normal position. In both constructions of tank the duration of the flush, or, more exactly, the quantity of water discharged at each flush, may he varied by adjusting the nut q up or down on the rod q.

I claim as my invention the following-defined novel features and' combinations, substantially as hereinbefore specified, viz:

l. The combination, with a cistern A, of a plate a thereover, having standards lo and h and constructed with an opening at the side of the latter, a valve C in the cistern, having a guiding-stem d passing through said open ing and having a headfabove the latter, a lifting-lever for said valve flexibly connected to its upper end, a iioat F in said cistern, a pivoted float-lever K, alever G, pivoted to the side of said standard h above the headfof the valve-stem, constructed with a depending hooked endg at one side of and in proximity to said headf and adapted to pass beneath the latter when the valve is lifted and with a tail end projecting at the other side of the valve, and a connection between said lever K and the tail end of lever G, constructed when the f oat falls to tilt the lever G and thereby remove its hooked end gfrom the path of said head f, all constructed substantially as and for the purpose set forth, whereby when the valve is raised by its lifting-lever its head f willbe engaged and suspended bythe hooked end of lever G and its guiding-stem d within said opening will preventits escape therefrom and on the fall of the float the lever G will be tilted and the valve released to seat 2. The combination, with a cistern A, of a plate a thereover, having a standard h and an opening at the side of the latter, a valve in the cistern, having a guiding-stem d passing through said opening and a head f above the latter, a lifting-lever for said valve flexibly connected to its head f, a lever G, pivoted to ofthe valve-stem and vei'ticallythereover, constructed with a heavy depending end at 'one side of the headf, terminating in a laterally-projectinghook g in proximity to said head and adapted to pass beneath the latter when the valve is lifted, and with a reduced tail end projecting at the other side of the valve, whereby said lever G normally tends to maintain its end in the path traveled by said head f under the guidance of the stem d, a float F in said cistern, a float-lever K therefor, and a connection between the latter andr the tail end of said lever G, constructed when the float falls to tilt the latter until its hooked end g is removed from the path of said head f, all constructed substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. The combination, to form a periodical flushing-tank, of a cistern and its outlet-valve, a counter-weight connected to the valve and constructed in its descent to lift the valve, a detent for restraining said counter-weight, a catch constructed to hold the valve when lifted, and a float connected to said detent and catch, whereby on its ascent it acts to withdraw said detent and open the valve and on its descent to withdraw said catch and close the valve.

4. The combination, to form a periodical flushing-tank, of a cistern and outlet-valve, a counterweighted lever connected to the outlet-valve and adapted on the falling of the weight to open the valve, a catch adaptedy to hold the valve open, a detent constructed to restrain the counterweighted lever, and a iioat connected to the counterweighted lever and adapted in its descent to pull the latter down and release the catch and in its ascent to engage said detent and withdraw it to release the counterweight-lever.

`5. The combination, to form a periodical flushing-tank, of a cistern and outlet-valve, its stem having an overhanging head or shoulder, a catch-lever adapted to engage said head and hold the valve when lifted, a counterweighted lever connected to the valve and adapted by the descent of the counter-weight to lift the valve and having a lug projecting into the path of said catch-lever, whereby the restoring of said counterweight-lever withdraws said catch and releases the valve, a float connected to the counterweight-lever and adapted in its descent to pull down and re'- store said lever, and a detentarranged to engage said lever when thus restored and connected to the iioat to be retracted and disengaged from said lever upon the ascent of the float.

6. The combination, to forma periodical.

ushing-tank, of a cistern A,its valve C, and valve-stem d, having head f, with a catch-lever G, having tail t, a counterweighted lever J engaging the valve-stem and having a projection to engage the tail of the catch-lever, a detent-lever L for holding the counterthe side of said standard h above the head f n weighted lever in its restored position,a oat IOO IIO

F and its lever K, constructed in ascending myname in the presence of two subscribing to engage and restore the detent L, and a rod Witnesses.

conneotin0F the eounterWeiUht-lever with Ezhe float; m21 reservoir', Wherzeby on the de- HUGH H' CRAIGIE' 5 scent of the float it pulls down and restores Witnesses:

the counterweight-lever. v CHARLES K. FRASER,

In Witness whereof I have' hereunto signed JNO. E. GAVIN. 

